Floriade – Australia’s biggest celebration of spring – returns to Canberra for the 30th year from Saturday 16 September until Sunday 15 October 2017.

In 2017, Floriade is getting back to basics. Recognising that Floriade is Australia’s premium spring celebration, we have focused our efforts on creating garden bed designs which show full colour, pattern and movement. With over 100 species of tulips onsite, and an innovative feature garden, Floriade welcomes spring in style.

In all, 1.5 million bulbs will be planted across the 20,000 square metres ground .

Floriade first began when Peter Sutton and his colleague, landscape designer Chris De Bruine, developed a proposal for a grand floral display to celebrate Australia’s Bicentenary and Canberra’s 76th birthday.

The inaugural Floriade blossomed in 1988 with a stunning floral display of exotic bulbs and annuals, which grow beautifully in Canberra’s climate. The community embraced the event, making it such a success that it became an annual celebration of spring in Australia. Since its beginnings Floriade has been held alongside Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra’s Commonwealth Park.

Nowadays more than one million blooms combine to create a stunning backdrop to a month-long festival filled with music, cultural celebrations, horticultural workshops, artistic displays, entertainment and recreational activities. Floriade runs from mid-September to mid-October and attracts more than 400,000 attendees each year.